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Summary: Cheers for Daniel Keyes
Review: Flowers for Algernon has got to be one of the best and surprising reads I've had. A friend of mine introduced me to Daniel Keyes and told me this was a read I just had to make.
Keyes takes us through the life of a man who gets to experience life at two great extremes. Keyes instantly grabs the reader's attention with literally just the first page. He creates characters that you'll truly never forget. His development of the plot keeps you turning page after page in anticipation of what's going to happen next. I honestly could not put this book down once I opened it and read it in the span of ten hours. I was so captivated by the life that this book brought to life that I would not allow myself sleep until I knew its conclusion.
I would not recommend you start this book on a busy or late day. It'll you keep you up all night. It kept me up until 3 a.m. This is a book (and a story) unlike any I've ever read before. Keyes' writing style also makes the story flow from beginning to end without you ever missing a single moment or idea. If you have never read Daniel Keyes before, this is the place to start.
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Summary: I like this book oh so much because its smart.....
Review: I saw this book at the store and picked it up so I mite be smart in reeding it. It looked nice. I reed it when I was littel but didnt remember. So I picked it agin. The storie unfoles like a flower. Witch mite be how it got the titel. I'm still not sure on that. I know that Charlie Gordon isn't to smart in the begining but later he starts to get smarter. I liked that part. It was after some sort of operashun to his brane. And then Charlie's knowledge base begins to expand and things start to become clearer. But with this improved clarity comes a realization that previously held friends may not have been so friendly. And growing up as a moron wasn't necessarily such a bad thing. Does he have friends now that he's getting smarter? Charlie begins his ascent into genius level as his IQ passes 150. But the accumulated knowledge that he soon possesses can't prepare him for the retarded emotional state that he still finds himself in. The barriers he must break down are monumental and seemingly insurmountable. Can he do it? Does he want to do it now that he knows more about the world around him? Is the operation a success? Or a failure? Will Charlie remain at genius level or slide back into idiocy? Reed the book to find out more. Its a good book to. I like it a lot. I think Ill reed it agin sumtime. Now I just have to remember were I put it...
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Summary: Flowers For Algernon - March 27, 2002
Review: Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes is a science-fiction novel based on the consequences of the defiance of nature. In the story, Keyes depicts a mentally handicapped man whose intelligence level begins to surpass his emotional level. As science gives him a second chance toward intelligence, this leaves him to struggle through the burdens of new emotions that he is incapable of dealing with. The main character of this novel is Charlie Gordon, a mentally challenged 32-year-old man who works in a bakery. This novel is told through Charlie's perspective in his progress reports. Studying at Beekman College, Charlie becomes the prime candidate that is recommended for the brain experiment being run by Professor Nemur and Professor Strauss at the college. Originally with an IQ of 68, the surgery that Charlie undergoes almost triples his level of intelligence. Along with the intelligence, came the realization of the way things really were around him. As he becomes smarter, Charlie begins to see that those whom he had considered his friends, had been teasing and ridiculing him all along. Although he becomes far more intelligent than those who are considered mentally superior, Charlie is still at the emotional level of a child. As he struggles through the reality of the pain and rejection that his life is filled with, Charlie sees that his past ignorance had allowed him to be a much happier man. In regards to my personal interest, I found Flowers For Algernon fairly interesting. Although it was a science-fiction novel, the scientific aspects of the book were very believable in terms of their theories and terminology. Compiled of Charlie's progress reports (which are similar to journal entries), the story is very straightforward in the beginning, but starts to become more complex as Charlie becomes increasingly intellectual. The author manages to hold a reader's attention throughout the novel with the varied emotions that Charlie experiences, as the reader sympathizes toward his situation. This novel is very emotional because it accurately depicts the cruel extent of society toward mentally handicapped individuals; it is very insightful. Flowers For Algernon is definitely worth reading because it describes human nature in ways that one may not have imagined. An aspect of the novel that I found intriguing, was the question of ethics. As Charlie becomes considerably intelligent, his co-workers at the bakery begin to despise him. They hated the fact that they now looked stupid beside a "moron" and many felt that it was wrong that Charlie had defied nature. A co-worker told Charlie that it wasn't right to know more than God had intended for him to know; Charlie had challenged God. I found myself agreeing with that statement and the reality that many lack faith in the fact that they are exactly the way that they were meant to be. From a religious point of view, although Charlie had only accepted a second chance for a normal life, perhaps it is wrongful for him to go against nature - an act that is deserving of a penalty. If advances in science allows for a similar type of technology, I would not be supportive of the cause. Based on Flowers For Algernon, Daniel Keyes is a unique writer. This novel is both reflective of human nature and controversial. Progressing through the story, one is absorbed into Charlie's life and perspective of things. Although others may have different opinions of this novel, I recommend it to teenage or adult readers.
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Summary: Definately a classic
Review: Not only was this a great story, it also addressed an issue that should be in the mind of ALL scientists at the cutting edge of research - just because we can, doesn't mean we should.
Initially I thought that the pace of the story was a little fast, and wondered what the remainder of the book was going to be about. However, I shouldn't have been concerned, as Keyes steered it away from the initial direction to one which reminded me (somewhat abstractly) of Luke Rhinehart. This is good, solid sci-fi which deserves it's place in this SF Masterworks series
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Summary: Through The Years
Review: I am long since out of Junoir HighSchool at the age of thirty-eight. I recall this reading nearly in it's entirety. I feel it ashamed that schools don't seem to be pushing reading as they did when I was a young lad. Thank goodness I have a daughter who loves to read. She is only twelve and reads anything she can get her hands on. I am Buying this book once again after all these years for her reading pleasure. Yes, this book will bring tears and joy. I believe this book will inspire any young mind or parent who wants to know what kids miss out on in reading now-a-days!. Enjoy.
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Summary: touching
Review: I finished this book a few months ago, then gave it to someone else to enjoy. It is written in the most sensitive first person. A series of the narrators progress reports tells the story about what life is like for charlie, being menatlly handicapped, and how life is changing for him when the experiment(he had been waiting for his whole life) makes him smarter. but though it all charlie is realizing what went on before his experiment. This book is the saddest book I have read, and it made me mad at myself for not standing up for those who needed it most in high school.
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Summary: I was reduced to tears...
Review: I read this story in its original form as a short story. I really liked it then. It was different and original. How many stories have you read where the first few chapters are grossly misspelled and carry the tone of innocent child? Almost 10 years later, I decided to revisit this story in its lengthened book form. I love it even more. Flowers for Algernon is a collection of progress reports, similar to diary entries, by Charlie Gordon. Charlie [has an IQ of 60 and] works at a bakery when the story starts. He is motivated to do what he can to learn how to read and write so that he can be smart like the people around him. Through an evening adult learn-to-read class, Charlie is introduced by his teacher Alice Kinnian to Professor Nemur and Dr. Strauss, a psychiatrist and a neurosurgeon, respectively. Nemur and Strauss are searching for a subject to perform an intelligence enhancing operation on, which up to that point has only been tried on a mouse named Algernon. They pick Charlie because of his friendly nature and tenacity to learn. The operation is a success and slowly Charlie's intelligence begins to increase. He slowly comes to undertand the world around him. Before when people laughed at him, he laughed with them and considered them his friends. Now he realizes they were just making fun of him. He's also slowly unlocking the repressed memories deep in his mind of his childhood and trying to understand them. Why did his parents send him away when he was younger? Why does Norma (Matt and Rose Gordon's second child of normal intelligence) hate her so much? As Charlie's IQ increases he realizes that people around him aren't as smart as he thought they were before the operation. Slowly he surpasses them in intellect until he begins to alienate himself from the people around him. He is alone again. There's so much more left to tell about this story, but I could never do it justice with this summary. I would urge the reader to read for themselves and be moved. Ultimately Flowers for Algernon is a very sad story. And as the subject of my review states, I was reduced to tears. In fact, the last two pages of this book unlocked a torrent of emotions I never knew a book could. To me, this book is singular in that sense. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
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Summary: Excellent work of literachure-Really makes you think
Review: "Flowers for Algernon" is a book about a man named Charlie Gordon, who only has an IQ of 68. He wants to make himself smarter, so he volunteers for a artifical inteligence expirement that was used on Algernon, a mouse. This book really made me think. There was one part of the book that jumped out of me. Here is the line: "People do not think twice about taking advantage of a man who is born without legs, arms or eyes, but they would take advantage of a man who is mentally retarded."
Also, the book is full of more of these scences. I really sugest reading this book.
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Summary: Gotta hate those smart-ass mice
Review: Whatever scientific bearing it may have, the general gist of the book is this- ignorance is bliss. The Charlie working at the bakery was much happier than the Charlie at his mental and creative peak. The book also explores how intelligence and maturity are two very different things. While Charlie is on Alice Kinnian's intellectual level, he is still an awkward adolescent in his mind. His rapid growth in intelligence has set what should be a gradual and balanced simulaneous mental maturity akimbo. An excellent read that no one should miss out on.
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Summary: A Fantastic book!
Review: Flowers for Algernon is one of those great books that keeps you reading and thinking from start to finish. One of my favourite books.
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